The 33rd Annual Xmas Quiz Answers

Updated 10:50 am, Wednesday, December 26, 2012

So you have perhaps been waiting since Tuesday for the Xmas Quiz answers. Your long national nightmare is over. Here are the answers to the quiz:

1. A tittle is the dot over an "i." A jot is the smallest mark in calligraphy, which includes the dot over the letters "j" and "i" and the period. The phrase comes from an English translation of the Bible.

3. The full name of the country of Mexico is Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

4. Due east of Benghazi, Libya, is Israel. (Because of a bump in the Mediterranean coastline, Benghazi is substantially north of Cairo. Heck, it's north of Jerusalem.) Due west of Benghazi is Tunisia. Due north is Greece. Due south is Chad.

5. "Salome" was written in French. Wilde translated it into English later.

6. (a) A baron of beef is a joint of beef consisting of the two sirloins joined at the backbone; also called a double sirloin. (b) The Vickers Viscount is the first turboprop airliner, first flown commercially in 1953. (c) The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in England in 1783 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. Today it has 21 congregations in England. (d) The Marquess of Queensberry Rules are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. They were named so because John Douglas, ninth Marquess of Queensberry, publicly endorsed the code, although they were written by a sportsman named John Graham Chambers in 1867. (e) The "Duke of Earl" is a No. 1 record from 1962, by Gene Chandler originally but covered by many.

7. George Bernard Shaw lived in Ayot St Lawrence, in England. (The lack of a period after the "St" is correct, by the way.) Shaw received not only the Nobel Prize for literature but also an Oscar, for writing the screenplay of his play "Pygmalion," upon which "My Fair Lady" was based.

8. Manteca means tallow, lard, grease or butter in Spanish. Point Lobos refers to the lobos marinos, seals or sea lions, found on its shores. Malibu means "Malibu" in Spanish, because it's an Indian place name.

9. Nine ladies dancing (the Forefeast of the Theophany begins on Jan. 2, the ninth day of Christmas).

10. According to the AA Eighth Tradition, AA should remain always nonprofessional.

11. Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" was originally called "First Impressions." It was published under its familiar title, anonymously, in 1813.

12. Dr. Frankenstein's monster did not have a name; it likened itself to Adam.

15. "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the street, and to steal bread." That was written by Anatole France, which was the pen name of Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault, who also wrote, "He flattered himself on being a man without any prejudices; and this pretension itself was a very great prejudice."

16. Twelve yogic postures are assumed in every Namaskara. The informal name for the assumption of these postures is sun salutation.

17. The name mayonnaise comes from Port Mahon, on the Spanish island of Minorca. The Duc de Richelieu brought it back to France, where it was used only on the most expensive cuts of beef.

19. Uri Geller's suit over remarks made by the Amazing Randi about Geller's spoon-bending abilities was dismissed as frivolous, and Geller was ordered to pay more than $150,000 in court costs.

20. You are looking at Magic 8 Ball, of course. The technology behind the Magic 8 Ball was invented in 1942 by Albert C. Carter, but the device was not marketed until 1950. It is still controlling the destinies of millions of Americans.

Address ad hominem attacks and calm corrections to the e-mail address below. We live but to serve.

Some surprising answers to those questions from Tuesday, including a visit from the Baron of Beef.

"I'm sure those are not the right words," said poor Alice, and her eyes were filled with tears again as she went on. "I must be Mabel after all, and I shall have to go live that in that poky little jcarroll@sfchronicle.com.